Ⓑⓞⓞⓚ Ⓡⓔⓥⓘⓔⓦ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝕆𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔸𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕤
𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗮 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗿
World War II Historical Fiction
344 pages

Sʜᴏᴿᴛ Sʏɴᴏᴘsɪs

Clare and her son live with her in-laws after her husband is killed in the war. In the town where she lives, there is a camp for German prisoners of war who are forced to work in the area. She has feelings toward one of them, which causes many problems. Will she figure out what the right thing to do is?

Mʸ Tᴴᴼᵁᴳᴴᵀs

Here is a look at another aspect of the war, German prisoners. Were they just people fighting for their country without knowing the facts, or were they all followers of Hitler? Clare really struggles with this. She is attracted to a German, the people responsible for killing her husband. Associating with him in any way is against the law as well.

The story is realistic and sad. None of the characters are happy throughout the book because they have little to be happy about. I never considered the German prisoners of war, what they did, and where they were kept during their imprisonment. Wars cause so much grief to all sides. Clare saw both sides of the situation, where her dead husband’s family could only see that the Germans killed someone special to them.

If you enjoy WWII historical fiction, I’d suggest Out of the Ashes. It is relatively slow-moving but informative, and it expanded my thinking. Sometimes it is hard to consider both sides of a situation. Samantha Grosser did a fine job of helping her readers look beyond the norm.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing this ebook for me to read and review.

An extraordinary story of WWII from a different perspective - German prisoners in Britain. A war widow, Clare, accidentally crosses paths with German prisoner. Any form of slight contact with prisoners of war is highly punishable, however Clare is drawn to this polite German. She is living with her mother in law and family who detest her so finding someone who offers her kindness is irresistible.

The story line is complex and well developed as are the characters. Max and Clare face numerous barriers to a future. Samantha Grosser has created a unique story with perfection. With many twists and turns, the story is unforgettable. I highly recommend with 5 stars.

The encounter with a German POW in her English village makes Clare question everything that has happened to her during WWII, including the loss of her husband. The ensuing love affair between these 2 characters is beautifully written and expressed in this excellent example of historical fiction.

I wish that I could give Out of the Ashes more than five stars, because I absolutely would if I could!

Firstly, I love the authors writing style. Samantha Grosser is so descriptive and makes it incredibly easy to visualize the characters, the settings, the rooms and the landscapes. Her writing style is highly addictive to read and the words flow so well.

Claire is an English woman who finds herself a widow when her husband is killed in action. Living with her son and old hag of a mother-in-law on a farm in England, her world is unexpectedly turned upside down when the town opens a POW camp, when her path crossed with Max, a German POW.

This novel is highly addicting. Claire finds herself falling for Max. Is she willing to risk everything? Her son, her reputation, her job? You must read to find out. The author brings the characters alive, as well as their passion and feelings for one another. I found myself staying up super late into the night to finish this book in one day. It makes you wonder what would you do to appease your heart when everything you have in life is at risk? I love novels that make you think and reflect and this is definitely one of them. I also love that the romance was not overbearing, but not super subtle either. It blended it well with the suspense, family matters and the wartime day to day life.

There are numerous novels written about the women who were left behind in the UK while their husbands were at war (WWII), and often the women find themselves falling for some other man (specially a US soldier!) in her husband's absence, (or if he is killed or 'goes missing'). But there are far fewer that include the forming of relationships with German POW soldiers, many thousands of whom were imprisoned in the UK (and in the US) after the Normandy invasion. This novel is one of those. It is a fascinating premise if looked at broadly; how does a British woman (or a woman from any of the Allied nations) deal with her own feelings and the attitudes of those around her in this circumstance? The characters in this story were rather two-dimensional, and the protagonist's feelings and behaviours seemed to me to be so superficial at times as to be unbelievable. But as a light read it was fine; a beach read I guess although the subject matter hardly seems appropriate for a beach! I am sure many readers would enjoy it, but given the topic I would have preferred something more thought-provoking and 'deeper'.

"Falling in love - that's not betrayal. That's a spirit yearning to be free." I ADORED #OutoftheAshes! Terrific characters, honest and real - and I appreciated the complications the main characters endured - whether to follow their hearts or their heads - being able to see beyond one's nationality (British vs. German), toxic families and choosing the past least taken. It was hard to leave these people and I was sad when the book ended. Highly recommend.

P.S. Many thanks to #netgalley for the ARC.

This was certainly not a quick read, but definitely a good story line. This story lines takes a different route than others from the same historical time period. How would you behave if your husband was killed, by Germans, to find many now living in your town... This was a moral decision for Clare, the main character, and we are taken through her trials and tribulations of live in England immediately after the war.

*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

I was rather disappointed in this book and almost quit reading it a few times. It wasn’t because of the writing but because of the characters and their choices. If I had realized that Max was married (not a spoiler—it’s just not in the book description), I wouldn’t have requested the book. I just cannot root for any relationship that involves cheating.

For the most part, the characters were very selfish. And I don’t just mean Clare and Max—I mean all of them: main characters, side characters, dead characters. Perhaps Bridget was the least selfish in the book and experienced more character growth than anyone else. Eric was just a boy dealing with the death of his father and a very difficult realization about his mother, so I don’t know that I’d call him selfish, either. But because of his infidelity, I couldn’t bring myself to like Max much, despite his kindness. I had hope for Clare at one point, but she failed to live up to it.

I am granting the book two stars, however, for these reasons:

1) It introduced me to some history with which I was unfamiliar. I didn’t know that many German POWs remained in Britain for so long after the war, living in camps and being used for labor. I didn’t know it was illegal for people to interact with them in any way and that doing so carried heavy penalties.

2) It was well written.

3) It has a message of forgiveness. I particularly like something that Susan said to Clare: “You were right about Walter—he would have forgiven them for everything. The war is over, after all, and we’ll never have peace until we forgive each other.” It’s true that nobody can have peace without forgiveness, and we all need it, whether we’re the ones who have been wronged or the ones who have done the wrong.

Note: Very little swearing. An affair. Brief, mild sex scene and other implied sex scenes (nothing on the page for those).